A LIQUID REALITY

NIAGARA FALLS 1985, Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation, Constructed by Kevin Johnson

Video Credit: Melissa Murray at the MoMA, 4th Floor Exhibit on Feb. 12, 2022

Shigeko Kubota's Liquid Reality at the MoMA

This past February, I had the chance to visit one of my favorite museums, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. I’ve been many times and know their collections well. However, this time I was really taken-in by the 4th Floor. This was my first introduction to Shigeko Kutoba’s Liquid Reality. I thought it was breathtaking. Here is a quote from MoMA’s website about the artist:

“Likening video technology to a “new paintbrush,” Shigeko Kubota was among the first generation of artists to embrace video, exploring the potential of the nascent medium in the early 1970s.”

*Source: MoMA: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5324

While Shigeko Kutoba's sculpture work with video is intended to represent the multiple formations made possible by video as a medium, for me, it cast a broader commentary that fascinated me and had me tossing it around in my head even after leaving the exhibit - the idea that video morphs our reality. Literally all I could think of when watching the videos turned in multiple directions with light passing through water, mirrors and glass frames, was the it reminded me of Plato's Allegory of The Cave. Just like one stuck in a Cave sees shadows as live beings while inside the cave, and then steps outside to understand what a shadow really is, the videos enclosed in their surroundings speak of the phenomena of human learning. Media is only understood through the cave, glass, and mirror that it casts a shadow on. The human mind being the cave in this instance. While we take in media, we interpret it from our standpoints - age, education, family, etc. Media offers change to our cave and new information but not necessarily in the literal way it was intended. It morphs and shifts with the understanding of the viewer and the cultural environment its transmitting to. Like, I said: This exhibit will get you thinking. It's beautiful and interesting all in one! And well worth a weekend-day perusing it!

NIAGARA FALLS 1979-1981, Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation, Video edits by Paul Garrin,

Water Pump Design by Werner Block

Video Credit: Melissa Murray at the MoMA, 4th Floor Exhibit on Feb. 12, 2022